Grateful Dead

I love The Rolling Stones and -- ain't it the truth that Keith is quite the survivor. Kryptonite. Silver Bullets. Nuclear Bombs. Nothing stops him. If you pounded a stake through his heart then he would just pull it out and have you down for dinner!

Yes old venues are a pleasure for a show. The Furthur shows here in New York City at the Beacon were a treat, and, likewise, Radio City Music Hall plus The Capitol Theater in Port Chester New York.

I would love to get a turn table and collect vinyl LPs. My place, however, is small so perhaps when I have more room. Yet I would not even know how to make a wise purchase on a turntable with stereo system because it has been so long since those days of having one in the family room as a kid, or lad, with the family. The salesman will try to sell me everything. I have got some research and catching up to do.

Holding vinyl albums in your hand and reading the liner notes while admiring the artwork is a pleasure! Everyone "in the know" says that the analog sound is superior to digital. I did get an iBasso DX80 dual audio chip music player used off of eBay which plays flac , wav, etc., and, added extra memory so it hold a tremendous amount of music and the sound is much, much, better than MP3 which is not a surprise.

I did not know about Setzer doing a Christmas show? Not to be callous, but after everything that has happened in Minnesota and that area -- I am surprised the venue is still standing and not a smoldering ruin.

Are we even allowed to celebrate Christmas this year or Hanukkah?

When is a Telecaster not a Telecaster? Is any guitar with a Tele body shape considered a Telecaster? I have a Charvel Tele-style with a natural ash body and two Seymour Duncan humbuckers, and let me tell you a brutal metal sound can be gotten out of that thing. Also a Schecter Pete Townshend model like the one Pete plays in the Eminence Front video. Was always a sucker for the Kenney Jones era for some reason. It too has dual humbuckers with a coil tap and you can dial in anything from twang to crunch.

I have always admired Gretsch guitars, in the hands of other players. I can enjoy handling them in music stores but have never owned one. The necks aren't particularly forgiving. They seem to fight back a little, perfect for the aggressive pick attack of rockabilly... I could see dating one but don't think I could fall in love. Their greatest contribution to rock and roll, imo, is now realized as the Malcolm Young G6131-MY Signature Jet.

Been listening to Roy Buchanan and other blues all morning. Perfect for a chilly Colorado winter day, overcast... blues and strong coffee and a Fender Tele in my hands is feeling just fine. I tore out the stock pickups on this Tele (it's from the 2000's, not vintage) and installed a Roy Buchanan-cloned set. Cuts through nicely, cries and screams like a good Tele should.

Bunch of my friends are getting into the vinyl resurgence. We're all in our 50s and grew up with 8-tracks and vinyl to some extent, of course, then moved away from it but now many of them being older and gainfully employed are getting into filling up their houses with vinyl.

There's something to be said for admiring cover art and holding a record in your hands, and I do love the hisses and pops when the needle drops. The vinyl aesthetic is unparalleled, in my opinion. But I'll argue that the sound is not better. I believe it's an argument rooted in nostalgia and a purist's philosophy. Vinyl, to my ears, even on very high end equipment has a wonderful acoustic warmth, but suffers from midrange boominess and a loss of clarity and definition in the high end. Vinyl sounds like someone placed a pillow over the speakers, to a degree.

Now I know that's not a popular position to take these days, an inconvenient truth, but my ears don't lie. The human ear cannot hear the tops of the waveforms that are cut off by the digital format. Neil Young and Eric Johnson can argue the point all day long, and good for them. It's just my own personal truth after many side by side comparisons through the same speakers and power amp, going from vinyl to remastered cd's, there's no comparison.

Most prominently with Led Zeppelin and Steely Dan, there are buried tracks low in the mix of acoustic guitar and percussion that you can barely hear - or sometimes not notice at all - on the records, while on the cd the full sonic spectrum is crisp and punchy with no loss of bass, just that boomy pillow is removed.

It's cool, I love hanging out at listening parties where everyone gets to place one side on the turntable and drop the needle and pass around the album cover. I pretty much think everything was better in the 60s and 70s - the music and the movies, to be sure - but at the risk of invoking the wrath of purists who insist their high-end system says otherwise, vinyl may be cooler but digital sounds better.

....Aretha Franklins.

I never owned a turn table but our family had one. Having never listened to vinyl and cd in a side by side comparison, I can not give and informed opinion. I have, however, listened to a cd ripped to mp3 and then transferred to an mp3 Zen Creative player and then plugged the same headphones into a cd player and listened to the same track . . .. and it sounded much better than mp3. Richer. Fuller. Warmer. The same words people who are pro vinyl typically use.

Maybe I won't get the turntable after all?

I don't compare the sounds -playing the cd then the vinyl - between the two mediums, but to me, vinyl has a distinct sound that I really like. It seems to fill the speakers more somehow, and the live records sound a bit more like a live concert than a recording of a live concert. Its hard to put into words. Some cds do sound better than vinyl - and sometimes its the other way round.

Ledded - to me a Gretsch really comes into its own when you try a bit of finger picking. I am very basic on a guitar-but that one pictured as my icon sounds incredible playing the bass strings as rhythm and using the top three for melody. It seems to have echo built into it-but play it through a valve amp with a Memphis Sun echo pedal and your on the way to the moon. The Keeley Ibanez analogue delay pedal is also great for a bit of slapback.

https://apnews.com/article/saturn-jupiter-merging-sky-space-8c48ceaf9c7…
.....one big star.

I haven't seen them that close since I was a little kid.

The Jerry/Lobo clip you posted was the night before the AIDS Benefit gig at the Oakland Colliseum Stadium...friends who were backstage hanging with the Lobos & crew before the benefit in Oakland told me that Hugh Romney came walking by ...My partner Mouse (who was one of the 'Bo roadies) yelled out at him "Hey Hugh, how about a picture" Hugh walked over thinking he was taking a picture with them, instead Mouse handed him the camera and friends and crew bunched up for a shot...Hugh stood with the camera for a few seconds then nodded and grinned, snapped the shot and walked away chuckling...Mouse was the one who got a copy of the New George's video for us...there's also video of Jerry playing with them at New George's in '86, supposedly his first post coma appearence in public...

Nappy, that's a funny story. I've seen the other videos, Santana is in one with Garcia, it's in Nov. 1986. Garcia looks like he's having a good time.

...not sure if this is the one in question (it's from '89 not '86) but it's a f'in rocker to be sure.
The dude on the squeezebox is other-wordly. And has an eye-patch!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhIVGQCeoaU

This always makes me happy. Spreading The Joy.

Sixtus

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp_LbYql79I. Sixtus, that is a very cool video you posted, Santana and Garcia really tear it up on there. I posted the one I was mentioning to Nappy, it took place at a Los Lobos gig, in Nov. 1986 at a club called New George's in San Rafael.

Hi Sixtus...the dude with an eye patch on accordion is Norteño legend Steve Jordan....rock on...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUjCfBo-R38&feature=related

incredible instrument.

Thanks People - cool links, lots of accordion! Gives me a newfound appreciation for this when 'ole Brucey busts it out from time to time.

Happy Holiday Time to All.

Sixtus

Ole Brucey sitting in on Keys.

Somebody out there must know that show...

...I swear Jerry says that during one of the Garcia Band performances that was released where Bruce sits in (forget the date, it was a '91'er I believe); I wanna say either right before or just after they do Chuck Berry's 'C'est la vie' (which is the best song from Pulp Fiction IMHO). ....Or maybe it was Breadbox (another JGB favorite).

Sixtus

In between Waiting for a Miracle and think from 11/9/91 Hampton, a few songs after You Can Never Tell (C'est La Vie).

At the end of band introduction we get "...and ole Brucey sitting in"

There's a few late era JGB songs I get.. Bright Side of the Road and Shining Star come to mind. I don't think Jerry ever hit this song out of the park and I wish he got to it a few years earlier when his voice was less haggered.. but I have a soft spot for What a Wonderful World as well.

I forget what my last Garcia Band show was.. but I have a sneaking suspicion they weren't doing many of these then. I tried like hell to see them when they were around, but they didn't venture East nearly often enough. I sure am thankful for the Garcia Band shows I was able to attend. Informal, relaxed, less ticket hype and crowd stress.. and he sure did like to stretch out some of the jams. There were some hard rocking shows mixed in.

Playing 3-23-95 Charlotte.
Nice sounding recording.

Cold Rain and Snow.....

....I'll check it out.

...with Brucey sitting in? Didn't realize he made such a late appearance. I shall also check this one out.

Jimmy, great breakdown of the quote. I always loved JGB shows for exactly the reasons you describe. Not so crazy in terms of the scene, but man he would play and jam. My only gripe might be shorter setlists and more often repeats, but at the end of the day it was all fantastic....just like the Good Ole GD.

Sixtus

....is on point.

Yes, SMR is excellent.
Just finished Days Between which was also pretty good.

I like the sound of the hula girl guitar.

This show is good, possibly release worthy. A few vocal flubs in ScarletFire, but overall a good show.

Such a fun show! I was able to make all three nights in Charlotte and was a wonderful time for my first shows in the South. The Unbroken Chain Scarlet->Fire just set the place ablaze. I think it took another 20 minutes before my feet touched the ground

Gosh darnit. That Quran learning post fooled the gosh dang heck out of me. I thought for sure it was a legitimate post. I mean, he mentioned Brucey and everything!! Then, when I clicked on the link......my computer blew up.

Won't Get Fooled Again.

It's funny that my post was swept up in the spam purge.

It did have the effect of either consciously or subconsciously drawing ones attention to the Blues for Allah period. A nice little 1975 studio effort.. a perfect album for the band at that time. Paradise waits.....

Feliz Navidad y Nuevo Cumpleaño tambien...hope everyone has a great and safe holiday in these crazy times...

Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah to all the deadheads here. Playing COW as we speak.

Yes, Happy Christmas to one and all. Its good to know there are still some sane (well...) people out there!
All the best,
Dave

I was at that show also and was blown away that they did Unbroken Chain. Also was unexpected, seeing Bruce again with the boys. That show was the last I saw of Jerry.
Hope everyone stays safe and has a great holiday!

.....that if you drop down your user profile menu, there is a chat box option?

Happy Christmas everybody!

Sad to hear of the demise of Leslie West. I was fortunate enough to witness Mountain live in 1971 at the first Crystal Palace Garden Party in London. The line-up was Quiver, Mountain, The Faces and Pink Floyd. Mountain were impressively loud and powerful. That man sure could play guitar. An influence on many who followed him. Another one gone. Damn.

. . . Belated Chanukah well wishes too!

Anyone having issues receiving 36? Mine still says "processing". I reached out and they replied "sorry for the delay,blah,blah etc.

Hey Ryan,
Just an FYI - I got my 36 in the mail Christmas Eve.
Customer service told me a month or so ago that they were waiting for a new printing to come in.
So, just make sure they know you did not get yours and they should get you one in the mail soon.
Have a great New Year !

No Dave’s 36 here as well. Sent numerous emails, got the standard response then finally a response by Dr Rino last week which gave me some hope but no shipping notice or product as of today.

Thanks Marin!!

Frustrating. I'll play the waiting game. Thanks

I am still waiting for mine.

I did hear back last week regarding my copy that they are aware I have not received my CDs and there is help on the way...

In any case they seem to be short on product for confirmed orders for some reason and are working to resolve it. Guessing by the amount of time all this is taking, it might be they had to make a second, smaller production run??

I'm fine to wait a bit but understand those that are frustrated.

I'm glad y'all have at least gotten recent email responses, my last response was 11/27, I sent a followup seeking a status update on 12/15. Zilch. I don't think an update is asking too much, certainly not with 2 weeks having gone by since I last asked and 4 weeks since they last led me to believe it was being handled, and 8 weeks since I alerted them to their shipping error. Yeah, I'm bitching about cds when worse stuff is going on, but I paid for them, and this isn't my first 2+ month wait for fulfillment on Dave's Picks volumes.

I'm ready to leave
I push the fact in front of me
Facts lost
Facts are never what they seem to be
Nothing there!
No information left of any kind

...so I've listened to this gig like 3 or 4 times over the past week or so. It is amazing just how much Bruce adds to this show. In some instances, Jerry totally steps back and just lets Bruce rip on the leads all over the place. But that second set is pretty monumental as noted by others; I was particularly taken aback by the Corinna > Matilda sequence following the aforementioned Scarlet > Fire. Excellent Bruce embedded throughout and then inspiration carries into the start of drums with even more Brucey wailing away with Billy and Mickey for a bit.

It's shows like this that surprise without intention and consistently keep me turning over new stones in search of such gems.

Happy Holidays to All!

Sixtus

....there is partial video of it on YouTube
https://youtu.be/8JqkuqLOsbU

Thanks dude...although looking at the link, it appears this one is from March 19th 1995 in Philly, not the Bruce show. Nonetheless, a rarity is always appreciated!

FURTHERMORE, it also appears I was actually at this Philly Show; it's the same one when they busted out Unbroken Chain, and the place erupted. Scored tix in the lot from my housemate who at the time had some excellent green to trade and his efforts did not disappoint.

Sixtus

....at least i get partial credit.

What's a favorite NYE Show?
I'm partial to 12/31/91:

https://archive.org/details/gd1991-12-31.149558.ultramatrix.sbd.miller…

But then again, 12/31/76 ain't no slouch either!
There are many.

Happy New Year folks.
May 2021 be better than this $hitshow that was 2020.

Sixtus

I have not listened to it yet but am DLing it now. Although I DLed it a couple of days ago there was a problem with that torrent and now a "fixed" version is up today in both 16 and 24 bit. Happy New Years Eve to all here!

JamBase has a neat and tidy package of the NYE shows between 1978 and 1991.

You weren't kidding bigbrownie! A whole stash of entire NYE shows in video and good sound quality:
https://www.jambase.com/article/grateful-dead-new-years-eve-videos-gues…
What a score, thanks for the tip.

And among them is indeed the show I had referenced, how sweet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sMQyZLS7Jg&feature=emb_logo

Happy New Year indeed!
Sixtus

...tumbeweeds 'round here in the New Year.

Nonetheless, here's to a positive outlook for '21 to all of those in Deadhead Land and beyond.
Sixtus

Yes we sure could use some World-Wide-Positive -Vibrations; and, I'm sending them out now "With Love From Me To You!"

God Bless All Here!

This seems like a silly complaint in light of world events right now.

Still haven’t received my copy of Dave’s Picks 36 more than 2 months after it was supposed to ship. I changed my address in mixed October with Customer Service for which they acknowledged the address change but not only have I not received it to my new address but it didn’t arrive at the old address. I live in Hawaii on Oahu so not a far distance away from my old house who my friend owns. Customer Service finally answered my inquiry in early December and said a “replacement copy” was shipped. Now my emails are being completely ignored since late December. You’d think after faithfully ordering Dave’s Picks Subscriptions for 9 years running there’d be some kind of response. I hope everyone else got there copy and are enjoying it. I’m not really sure what to do at this point. Demand a refund? If anyone has experienced this let me know what I can do. Cheers and Happy New Year!